A message from the Author -

The most important time in your pet's life is right now. A puppy or kitten comes into this world and immediately begins learning from their surroundings and every interaction they have with their littermates, a person or another animal. When we first bring home a pet a new relationship begins and the opportunities for teaching and training are boundless. Although a new adult dog or cat may have some baggage, we still have a "first interaction" training opportunity.

Your pet's behavior is constantly changing. A pet that is well-behaved today will not necessarily remain that way forever. New problems can always develop. Existing problems can get worse. Nearly all behavior problems are perfectly normal, natural and necessary activities that occur at the wrong time or place or are directed at the wrong thing. The key to training your pet is learning to teach your pet to redirect his behaviors to outlets that are acceptable in the domestic setting. Sometimes there is no appropriate outlet so we must train our puppy, dog or cat to stop a specific behavior altogether.

Regardless of age, you must decide upon guidelines for training your puppy, dog or cat and these guidelines should not change. You must be consistent and be patient so that your pet understands the difference between the behaviors you want and the ones you don't. You must give your pet a chance to get it right.